Celebrate Bill Gates Day with us here at Engadget
By Ryan Block 
posted Jun 27th 2008 12:00AM
posted Jun 27th 2008 12:00AM
We'll miss you big guy.
P.S. -Keep this on the DL, but we heard this rumor he's thinking of returning to uni for his post-post-post-doc, and it won't even be honorary. We'll keep you posted. In the mean time today, expect plenty more Bill.
All Day Coverage
Bill Gates: top ten greatest hits (and misses) -- the Microsoft years
Bill Gates wipes away tears at Microsoft farewell
The Bill Gates Engadgethology
Giveaways
The Bill Day giveaway (part 3) -- Zune 80GB (black)
The Bill Day giveaway (part 2) -- Office Ultimate 2007
The Bill Day giveaway (part 1) -- Toshiba Gigabeat T400
As long as there's gonna be a Steve Jobs day (hopefully not too soon)
Im OK with this.
when ol Steve give billions upon billions to help the world then we can talk about a jobs day but I do support a johnathan ive desgin day :^)
now u got me curious.. what does Jobs do with his billions??? i havent seen him give any away.
Who said steve jobs does not give charity? Just because he doesnt publicly state that he does doesnt mean hes not WIRED on Jobs;
For a person as private as Jobs, who shuns any publicity about his family life, this seems credible. If so, however, this would make Jobs virtually unique among moguls. Richard Jolly, chairman of Giving USA Foundation, said not all billionaires give their money away, but a lot do, and most do not do it quietly.
Giving quietly is more credible then taking the publicity, with one its pure hear with the other its some heart and some ego
He sits on it like a dragon. He doesn't use it, it just gives him pleasure to know it's his.
Just kidding.
It doesn't.
:D
Steve keeps his money and he might be giving some to charities but he does it anomnolsy ( gawd I can't spell) so we truly done know how much he gives. But u think we can agree that the amount that ok bill give is > anyone else.
@ef15e.
Even if Steve gave to charity it is miniscule to the amount that bill has given. In fact the amount that any current mega rich person has given is minute compared to tv gate's contributations.
@DefPo3t Well thats not saying much as he has the most to give.
All these comments make it sound like he died or something. But he is still one hell of a guy. I'll miss you Billy G.
Steve Jobs is pretty arrogant.
I could see him donating to charities but not that much.
he regularly parks in the handicapped spot at Apple, Inc.
I dont think that anyone can deny that he is arrogant and has high demands for perfection. He regularly makes his workers work tirelessly through his night, makes them redo things over and over. While the end result is a good product, it shows that he isnt very merciful.
and with his $1 salary, how can he give much :p
EDIT: before i made this post i did some research and found:
Giving USA Foundation, a philanthropy research group which publishes an annual charity survey, said Jobs does not appear on lists of gifts of $5 million or more over the last four years. Nor is his name on a list of gifts of $1 million or more compiled by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy.
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2006/01/70072
so yeah... Jobs does not give to charities near as much as he should. This makes my respect for him drop a little though.
many less wealthy people give considerably more than Jobs.
@ Jason read the comments before, we're talking about PRIVATELY giving charity thats more like steve hence not showing up on that list.
Also yes he works his team hard but they admit to end up doing the best work they have ever done working with him also he has a 91% approval rating by apple employees, the highest of any CEO.
Bill Gates is such an awesome person. Him and his Wife are a great human being.
May the force be with you Mr Gates.
@ef15e, you're sort of making a lot of assumptions on steve job's character/actions on some flaky evidence...
what i do know for sure is that the Bill and Melinda gates foundation is worth 30 billion or so...which is just going to get even crazier larger with warren buffets coming contributions
jason: Don't fool yourself. Gates is also a slave-driver, just like Jobs. It's well known that when shit goes wrong at MS or he doesn't like how certain software works, he starts berating people and telling them it sucks, and how the heck do they get a paycheck, etc.
We’ll miss you Billy G. Here’s a dedication, just for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBkxRM9AWJk
Tom
you guys say that Steve gives donations wihtout giving his name, how the hell do you know that he even donates then? He might just aswell just keep it all to himself :D
IF he gives donations I think he dosent make any major ones as bill, not even close. Im sure Steve wouldent dream of even giving away 25% of his money to poor kids and a like.
What about a Linus Torvalds day?
I think if we're going to celebrate the life of someone who created a very poor operating system and marketed it to the extent that it is now a monopoly that is damaging the global economy, we should at least celebrate the life of someone who created a much better operating system which has barely any impact on the global economy.
Don't get me wrong, I respect Bill Gates for all his philanthropic work, but let's not forget all the anti-competitive behaviour, lawsuits against linux (ok, threatened lawsuits) and the whole OS/2 thing! For all the good he's done in other areas - he's held back technological development and endangered the free market philosophy and there's little denying that. Of course, the majority of readers here will disagree and think I'm a commie / hippy / cheapskate, but I'm none of those - I just support choice and if there's a 90% market-share monopoly then the consumer has little choice. That is bad for everyone.
doesnt it suck to be the first one to post on an article like this? getting all the emails someone replied....it happend to me on a give-a-way I was the first to post and my inbox got crapped up....and I still didnt win :-(
@ef15e
OK your kiddin yourself if you don't believe Steve Jooobies is a crackpot. Read biographies on him, watch all the Triumph of the Nerds series, Watch the Bill Gates Story movie, and read the countless articles on how crazy steve jobs is. Shall I pull up a few articles from former employees who stated how self centered he was? Hes a great man who did alot of things dont get me wrong, but he is NO PHILANTROPIST (spelling on that may be wrong :P )
ef15e.... you need a wakeup call its STEVE JOBS here ... STEVE JOBS...do you know what kind of guy he is? A perfectionist and arrogrant, and stubborn to boot. Please wake up
My hero.
Bill, you will be missed. ;_;
And hey -- engadget.. it's William Henry Gates III KBE, (not Sir William Henry Gates III) 'cos he's not British. He is still a knight, of course -- just a really nerdy one..
I'm a giant Apple Fanboy. But I will dearly miss Bill Gates from Microsoft. I despise Ballmer (Monkey Boy) with a fiery passion. Bill Gates you were amazing and I wish you could of been Head Of Microsoft forever.
Whoa.... BILL GATES IS LEAVING!?
Did I miss this on Engadget because I'm not paying attention?
I thought all us techno-nerds knew about this!
I was paying attention to my final exams a week ago.
Anyways, goodbye Bill Gates.
Who's next in the line?
steve ballmer...you could live in a tree in the jungle and know about him. Hell, if you lived in a tree in the jungle you probably knew him growing up judging by some of his antics.
"fresh beginning" - I'm sorry but I call bullshit on that one. Until Ballmer is gone (along a dozen more senile old farts) there won't be anything "fresh".
Gates was the only guy I actually half-liked at Microsoft... Ballmer... not so much...
The xbox was fresh. Actually, pretty much the whole Entertainment and Devices division is fresh.
What do you mean under "fresh"? MS releases ~50 new projects each year. Just because it's not that widespread doesn't mean it's not fresh and good. Only one look into MS Research Labs gives a bunch of ideas on what they are working on(but it's a fraction). just FYI.
Tagged "Depressed Editors"?
really?
c'mon
You're not a little sad Billy G isn't gonna do the geek thing anymore?
I mean come on.
The guys is like the patron saint of geeks.
As much as I hate Windows in so many ways, Bill Gates is a geek legend.
Hey, even Gates knows that Windows is falling behind in user-friendliness.
I'll doff me kerchief to Willy G. as you suggest Mr. Engadget, as we space pirates have great respect for the nerdy little feller. He's a huggable little buzzard ain't he? Almost makes me feel bad about the time we shorts him after he tried pledging our space pirate fraternity at Titus Oberon VII. Almost.
All our best, Billy!!
Im gonna miss Bill. He changed all of our lives
^^ this
I believe that many of us, myself included owe a debt to Mr. Gates and the all of those who had the foresight, and the guts, to turn what was once nothing more than a bread board, and switches. Into the amazing tools the now take for granted.
Edit button...
Its hard to imagine a Microsoft without Bill Gates. I know a lot of people are saying that its going down the tubes with Ballmer in charge but I wouldn't count the company out yet. Ballmer is nuts and (I think) kind of a douchebag but he's not stupid and he would have to be pretty dumb to bring down a company as large as Microsoft.
So what do we do on Bill Gates Day? And more importantly, is there cake?
Congratz to Bill for the his amazing contributions to the industry!
There will be cake, but the real question is if it is compatible with an MBA.
the cake is a lie.
The cake is a pie.
There's cake in my eye.
Why is he doing the hula?
That's the Soulja Boy!
Thank for the ride... Mr. G
I hope Engedget authors are not really serious, because I already think that people are overacting on the Gates thing. So what if he`s stepping down? It`s not like the world ends, plus on the "reshaped the world as we know it" it is rather debatable if it is for good or for bad.
C`mon people, get a hold of yourselves!
Are you just a bitter person for denouncing Bill Gates, or one of those crazy "technology will kill us all" people (I hope not the latter cuz that would be kinda hypocritical...)? Though I must say it will be odd to no longer see the man that if nothing else helped revolutionize the world!
I hope what Bill did to the PC industry, he'll be able to do to many other industries and have an impact on another billion people, the billion poor. Good Luck, Bill!
OH MY ------
Wow, I hope /not/.
WOW I GOT AN AWESOME BIRTHDAY GIFT! TODAYS MY BIRTHDAY AND BILL GATES IS LEAVING TODAY!! O YAH! JUNE 27!!!
WOW, I LOVE THE SHIFT KEY, IT'S SO MUCH FUN TO SIMULATE SCREAMING OUT SENTENCES! WOO-HOO!
Seriously, the Greatest Reply Ever....
My eyes are filled with tears. :'(
Don't be Saad :(
God Bless Him
He's done so much for the world...
The man is a lot of things but above all he's a humanitarian.
So what was the video made for?
I mean, I love you Endy. But, I don't think you have that much pull in Hollywood. :D
as we hold our zunes in the heir we wish a great retirement to mr. gates
heir? ..wait, you mean air? i dont get it
F*** Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Who gives a crap about these people. Can't wait for the day that Windows is as significant as Mac OS X and Linux.
I will be accepting my Low Ranked Award for not sucking up to a$$holes.
That whole thing made no sense.
Linux and OS X would not even exist without Microsoft achieving its vision of a PC in every home.
you might as well post your comment to Engadget.com using their mailing address since they both sucks and they made you an option to do things you do now .......that you granny couldn't do during their times..
THanks for everything Bill, thanks for all the change for all you have done for the progress of humanity. We're really going to miss youAt least we expect you wont stop being th "Worlds greates geek".
Thanks
Maybe he'll do a Steve Jobs in a couple a of years (after Steve gets fired) and help Microsoft regain its glory
(Steve Ballmer)
@DefPo3t Well thats not saying much as he has the most to give.
sorry... meant to reply to a diff post
Bill, you will be missed. Thanks for all the good times.
air not heir sorry in a nostalgic mode
It's the end of an era.
Eh, good riddance......don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
I think he's leaving at the top of his game saying "Thanks for all the fish."
You guys can say what you want.
Farewell to a good man who did many good (and some not so good) things well.
I never heard a word of complaint when Engadget does their day long coverage whenever the Apple site is down or Steve Jobs farts.
Engadget PLEASE enable an all Bill Gates Last Day feed so I don't have to hear Apple people make snarky comments and complain all day. Please?
you have been the first to complain about anything.
bill gates is respected, even if microsoft isnt always.
I'm not 100% sure exactly what you mean, but you'll be able to get all the Bill Gates Day posts (as they come) at http://www.engadget.com/tag/billgatesday/ and http://www.engadget.com/tag/billgatesday/rss.xml
Happy Retirement, big guy.
Your impact on both worlds, rich and poor, will not be forgotten.
Here's to spending the rest of your life improving the lives of the poor in ways that the rest of us never could.
@ Reid:
Classy comment, brother. Well spoken.
n.
Not a huge Microsoft fan myself, but you can't deny the influence Mr Gates has had on the world... *sniff*... WE'LL MISS YOU BILL! Lets hope Monkey Boy doesn't ruin things...
I love that vid to... thats classic...
No arguing, this guy changed the world. Now that he is "leaving" Microsoft, he will change the world again with his foundation.
Thanks for the ride Bill - it's been great. Wish you similar success in your charity work.
happy bill day!
Bill Gates, you are my master. i'll miss u Sir.
Bill Gates enjoys Engadget everyday like all of us. Therefore, Bill, I know you are reading this. No matter what bad things people say, you are the reason for us being here, reading this post’s. Thank you for having the “cojones” and create a company out of nothing and conquer the world. You can say “Who’s Your Daddy” when ever you want. Sorry Steve.
Unfortunately much of the philanthropic bruhaha of Bill Gates is guilt based (or guilt assuagement based) - he is donating to a health charity in Bhopal because the chemical plant that he has a high stake in is killing the people in the area - but he has not divested himself of the ownership in the still operating facility.
And that is only one of the stories. There are more.
As for Jobs and charities... most charity trackers can only track what has been either given publicly (as in corp. giving) or declared by the giver. As an example, since 1972 my privately held company has given at least 25% of our net profits (and it has been considerable) to quietly assist education and health facilities development in developing countries all over the world. Yet, you have never read about it.
So, before you castigate Steve Jobs for what he has or has not done - look in your own pocket and see how you have helped. There is a saying about glass houses.
I have zero respect for Bill Gates - not because I am a Mac User, but because I have seen what Gates & Co. have done to people who are innovative and present their ideas to M$ and then have their ideas "borrowed" without compensation. When M$ was confronted, the innovators were told "sue us, we have enough money to keep you in court for a long time"...
Everyone is an example in their endeavours in life - some are just bad examples. Just because you are the biggest bully on the block doesn't make you admirable.
My comment to Bill Gates on "Bill Gates Day" is why don't you move to some of the hell holes you have created in the developing countries and see how long you and what's her name will last.
Caio...
Citation? Cause I think you're full of sh*t
Hmm, look at this speech he gave at Harvard turns out he might be going back after all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP5VIhbJwFs
God, will you Apple/Jobs fanbabies give it a rest. Or even better yet, put your energy in getting Jobs to add a friggin replaceable battery in their stuff. Like WTF is up with that?
I'm no Gates lover but at least I respect his humanity.
Jobs will never reach the status of Gates - well maybe in his own mind. Gates is going to be giving ALL of his money and I mean ALL away. The kids aren't getting anything. He's already given his $3 billion payout his & his wife's charitable foundation. The foundation has $27 billion which it will be donating.
So big prop's to Billy for manning up and giving back.
Bill is the man who has a clear vision.
I have nothing but absolute respect for this man.
Way to go BILL!!
Calvin from Redmond, WA
We'll miss you Bill...
Thanks to your dream of a PC on every desk, we now have Open Source software to rival Windows... and Windows isn't that bad as everyone says it is....
He won't be missed as the head of Microsoft. Yes fantastic, he's a philanthropist, but why honour that with the day he leaves Microsoft. Microsoft is the blemish in his goodwill record.
Microsoft with him in charge will not be remembered as a beacon of technological advancements. It's no Palo Alto. It rose to the top by business tactics, by abusing monopoly of standards. There's no passion for innovation in there. Sure there's a few new things that Microsoft brought to the world but at their size and power, they have totally squandered the opportunity to bring about real big changes in the technological world.
Just compare that with the smorgasbord of innovations happening at, yes I have to say it, Apple. They are constantly pushing new technology into the market. Yes Apple might not have invented some of the innovations, but they used their position in the market, small as it might be, to push these innovations forward so that they become a standard accepted by the industry. Companies rush to adopt new technologies that Apple push. And they did that with the minuscule market share of less than 6%
Imagine what Apple could achieve if they had Microsoft's market share. That why I say Microsoft's tenure at the top has stifled tech advancements for decades. They still can't top Windows XP, which they released 7 years ago! In tech time, that ancient.
Microsoft has stagnated the industry, and bill leaving microsoft doesn't change it one bit, so I don't find that worth celebrating about.
Now that he is free of Microsoft, I do hope, however, he can use his wealth to save this dying world, if anyone can, he can.
Hmm...doesn't Apple, or any company for that matter, have the right to go after market share? If Apple had the market share Microsoft does, then Microsoft wouldn't exist. So talking about it is a moot point. Notice that Apple has only gotten considerably more of that market share since they switched to Intel chips.
Yeah, totally apple fan here... but I think Steve Jobs would be the steal from charity type... the type that burns orphanages...
Maybe you RABID fans could shut up FOR ONE DAY and respect Bill and his life's work...
Congrats Bill, keep up the good work!
Mr. Gates,
You have been an inspiration to all of us. Thank you for everything and your dedication to helping the world is amazing.
-Thomas
Let's face it, you know the answer to this question already:
Who would you rather sit next to on a bus, Bill or Steve Jobs?
The guy is a class act.
Yes Bill helped to form both the industry and world as we know it, but I will always respect him even more for his efforts toward those less fortunate and his ability to use his truly astonishing wealth to help others not through donations but actual help. I think if we all were a little more like Bill the world will be a better place.
P.S. (ef15e) I dont want to bash apple as this has nothing to do with business but lets be honest Steve Jobs just dont have the same impact on society as Bill both in business and charity.
Thanks for all of your efforts, Bill. You've changed computing forever. Now onto the humanitarian side, where your real work begins...
Godspeed.